Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays

Well Christmas is almost here and we have many things to do. Jimmy and have to do 7 seperate Christmas' this year and it is really crazy, and we have to do them in 3 days so it is hard. With all of that we are still having a great Christmas season. We are very happy with our life and are hoping for our Christmas wish to come true this year. Lily is going to have babies on or around January 18th so that is really excited. I want to keep one, but Jimmy said no. It would be a lot of white dog hair to deal with though. The rest of everything else is the same. Anyways...

Merry Christmas
&
Happy Holidays

~The Armbrusters...

Well things have not changed much since Jimmy posted last, but I am bored so I decided to post something too. Things are going good. We are going to start decorating for Christmas soon, either this weekend or next weekend. Well we might be having baby Miniture American Eskimos soon. We are not sure yet, but there is a really good chance that we might so that is exciting. Happy Thanksgiving!!!

~Rachel

Armbruster Update - Happy Halloween.

I got called into work, which I kind of expected! So a co-worker of mine had tickets to go see Bob Dylan last night, and he was suppose to work this morning. There are two people on 1st shift, but the other guy is on his honeymoon so that left me. Really no big deal had I been asked if I wanted to cover for them today I would have said that was fine. Because I would not have passed on the opportunity they both had… Real had decision – go to work or a week in Jamaica or see Bob Dylan (You choose). So I am working first shift today, and I have found myself with some spare time.

So it has been awhile since Rach or I have posted what do you expect from us. We have been extremely busy at work and working around the house. Rachel has a new job that requires her to work her 40 hours a week, including weekends most of the time. And this place is open 364 days a year! I am still working the crappy second shift, and trying to fix up the house.

The project on the home front is to partially finish the basement to make a spare bedroom down stairs. Well I frame the walls needed, ripped out the old paneling, and put up some new paneling.

So we have finished the room besides putting on some fresh paint on the concrete walls to brighten the room up. Being the brilliant person I am I decided that we should move the bed downstairs before we start painting so we won’t mess up the new paint. GUESS WHAT!?!? The spare “full” bed that we have will not fit downstairs :o). So now I am unsure what to do. I guess go buy a twin bed?

Anyhow: there is so much going on in our lives right now we both find it hard to find time to post. Which we were trying to use this blog to keep family aware of what was going on in our lives, ironic enough our life has been so full we cannot post!! That’s all for now, but if you need something give us a call, hit us up on myspace, or send us an IM sometime.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN FROM THE ARMBRUSTERS!!

--Jimmy

Well it has been a while since we posted a new message. Things are pretty much the same. I started my new job 2 weeks ago. It is going great. I love my job and I believe it will take me above and beyond what I thought I would be doing. I never thought I would do banking, yeah I thought about it in high school, but I ruled it out then. Now I am doing it. Jimmy and I went on a 4 day trip to Evansville, IN for training for work. They put us up in an amazing room that was like a home. We had everything you could possibly need to live there. We had a frig, stove, dishwasher, microwave, all the things to cook with. It was amazing and we loved being able to spend the time together alone. Things are still the same with everything else.
Our neighbor is a hag. I cannot stand her. I am going to make her life miserable for the rest of her life. She is causing nothing but problem in our wonderful neighborhood.
The dogs are doing great. Whitey is only 6 months old and he is already taller than Lily. She still has him in the length, but he will catch up before we know it. Sampson is doing great too.
I have a wonderful husband who completes me in every way. He is absolutely amazing in so many ways. Sometimes I cannot believe he puts up with half the crap that goes on in our lives and when I break down or cannot handle things, he is there to pick me and the pieces up. Anyone who finds a man or woman that can do that for them should feel very blessed...I know that I do.Well that is about it...
~Rachel

Happy Birthday Lily Bug

Well our baby girl is going to be a year old on Saturday. It seems like we have had her forever. I could not picture my life without her. She has brought so much joy to my life. She is one of the smartest dogs in the world and I do mean that. She has done a great job with her new little brother. She is teaching him so many good things, as well as a few bad things. We are taking her to petsmart tomorrow morning to get her a new toy and some new treats which she will have to share with her brother.
Whitey is doing good as well. I would say that he is pretty much potty trained. He is getting so big though. He is also very smart I have noticed. He is so sneeky too. He will just take off with anything he can get ahold of. His favorite thing to take and chew on are pens and hair brushes. Besides that he is a great dog. He does not like his new dog pen outside though. He sits at the door and whines and cries. He will get used to it though.
And we are getting ready to be one pet short in our house. On Sunday, Teddi is going to his new home. Mom is going to be all moved in by Sunday and she is going to come over and take her man home. Sampson is going to be sad for a while, but it will be ok. Well that is all for now. Check back later to see how things are going.
~Rachel

LOVE, Work, and Sleep!!

Time and time again my life is based on these three things(love, work, and sleep). I am fully in love with my wife, and the life we are currently living. If I could ditch the work and the sleep, I would love to spend every waking moment with my wife. But the world won't allow this. Lately I have been spending most of my time working, I work around the house mowing the yard, fixing the dog pen, and anything else on the list all morning long and then I go to work for eight hours(3-11). My favorite hours of the day are midnight to about nine a.m. which is when I am sleeping with my wonderful wife and our kids. Well thats all for now, I have an hour left at work and about 30 minutes of spare time so I am going to try to find some information about becoming foster parents (which is something Rachel and I are discussing). Maybe have to two kids of our own, and become foster parents?!? Only time will tell!?!?!

--Jimmy

Just Because

Well our canoe float was amazing. We had a great time. Jimmy was drunk by 10 am of course and he flipped his kayak like 2 or 3 times. Mandy and I did ok. We had a hell of a time handling our canoe, but we did not turn her over once. We hit the bank about every 5 minutes at first, but we got the hang of it. We were stuck on 2 different trees, but we made it off of them with the help of some very nice men. Steven and Lucia also did really well. They did not turn their canoe over either. They had a very close call at one point, but good old Steven jumped out of the canoe so that it would not go over. They are the reason that Mandy and I were on one of our trees, but its ok. This was the best canoe float I have ever been on. The dogs did great. They just sat in the chair together and slept like little dirty white angels. They did however flipped their chair out of the canoe and were in the water. It was pretty funny. They loved the water, all they wanted to do was swim in it on the first night. All in all, we had a blast. We are definitely going again next year and hopefully with more fun people who know how to have a good time.
~Rachel

Bass River: Here we COME!

Well this weekend is our float trip... We have had some unexpected changes, but we are still going to have a great time. We will be taking 2 canoes and a kayak(Rachel and Mandy in one canoe, Steven and Lucila in another, and I will be taking a kayak with the pups). Should be a wonderful weekend highs in the mid 80's and lows in the 60's. We also have a site right on the river, so perfect. We are already packing and getting stuff together. I have Friday off, and taking Thursday off. I really want to get Lily used to the water and get her playing fetch in the water. We will see. I also think we are going on a horseback ride. Going to be a great weekend of family fun!?! I will try to update with some pictures after we get back.

--Jimmy

Goldfish!?!

Out with the Old:



In with the New:


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So... One of the projects on the new house was to add/fix the goldfish pond that was present. In all honesty, what was there before was not a goldfish pond but just a fountain. Rachel, Mandy, James, and I all worked on digging out the hole to put in the actual pond liner, and by us I meant me. It turned out to be a big pain in the a$$ to put this thing in, numerous hours of digging, and cutting out roots as big as my wrist. All in all I think it looks better, but it still needs some work. After putting the pond in now all the water cycling through the pond and to the fountain does not make it back to the pond. Some of the water runs back under the huge rock, thus if we run the fountain very long it will drain the pond. We have put a piece of rubber there trying to direct the water flow but this is not working well either. So for now we have a pump just resting down in the water, so we can get oxygen in there for our fish. If anyone has any idea it would be great?!?

--Jimmy

To My Wife: Our First Wedding Anniversary

On the road: 9.5 Hours Drive Time (Round Trip)

Miles Driven: 307 miles one way / 614 miles round trip – (307 miles*2) (614 miles/25 mpg) (24.65 gal * $3.00 per gal) = $73.68 in gasoline.

Mo Money: Cost of Whitey $$$.00

The perfect anniversary gift and addition to our family: Priceless

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Ok. So my wife knows what I am getting her for our anniversary, but you should see her face :) Rachel is extremely happy about getting another little white bundle of joy, don't get me wrong I am excited too, but this is more for her. I had originally sold my Xbox so I could buy an Xbox 360 from my little sister. It turns out that I sold my Xbox so I could get my wife a puppy. It all worked out though, because my little sister is cool and allowing me to make payments on the 360. Anyhow, we started looking around online, and could not find a puppy in our price range, and then we received an email back from a wonderful woman deep in MO. She has little "emerson", whom will be renamed to Whitey. She is holding the puppy for us and we are making the long journey to pick him up. The next step will be breeding Lily (our other American Eskimo), but I believe this will be happening in the Spring of 2008. So if you are looking for a puppy speak up. They will not be papered, but they will be full blooded Mini American Eskimos. Anyhow. If we don't post before July 4th everyone have a safe and exciting holiday.

--Jimmy

Life is GOOD

Well not a lot has changed here in the last month. Jimmy is now working all the time in the new building in Creve Couer. I miss having him close, but either place would be about the same amount of time away from home so it does not matter. We finished the goldfish pond and we now have fish in it. We will continue to have fish if the damn black birds would quit trying to eat them. One died trying to get a fish so I guess it is what he deserved...The flowers I planted are finally starting to bloom. The ones that Jimmy knocked off of the porch are not doing too well though. We are pet sitting for my mom. We have 2 ferrets at our house now and it is a lot of work. Mom's is a baby still and he is full of energy. Jimmy and I are going to get Lily a brother. I have been looking online to try and find her one, but I have had no luck in it. I will find him eventually. We are going to breed her I think. I want her to be a mommy at least once. I think she will be a great one. Jimmy just found out yesterday that his best friend Mark is going to be having a son soon. We are very happy for them. Well I have rambled on enough I guess. Until next time...
~Rachel

Settled In Finally

Well Jimmy and I have finally got in and settled in our new home. All the boxes are unpack and everything is put away. I love it, I mean LOVE it. It is so nice to have a place that is ours. We have done a lot to the place since we bought it. We painted every room but the living room. We have planted flowers and cleaned up the yard as well as the waterfall. Well I guess I would have to say that Jimmy has done a lot of it and I have supervised...LOL. Our nephew thinks that it is his house too. He told his dad "yeah we got a new house." He loves it here and most of the time does not want to leave. We are very blessed people and we are so very grateful for all that we have.
~Rachel

A Little Ketch-up!

We are getting closer to owning a house, actually we will own it Monday. We have one last little fee due Monday when we go to close, $43.**. This is due to something about a "HUD"? Anyhow, it is time to start cleaning, painting, and moving. We are going to try and do this all very quickly as we are ready to move out of our apartment.

Anyhow: While eating subway for lunch today, with my lovely wife, we realized our dog eats some really strange stuff.



Her favorite treat would have to be popcorn, which when I think about it is not really all the strange. But the following list is of things she does eat that are quite different. If you don't believe us feel free to stop by, I promise she will eat anything on this list.

1. Black Olives
2. Green Olives (Another Favorite)
3. Cucumbers
4. Pickles
5. Green Pepper
6. Lettuce
7. Tomato
8. Potato
9. Carrots
10. Corn
11. Salt and Vinegar Chips

I am sure there are others things, that is just a short list we came up with.

On another note: we are starting to plan our summer float trip. Doesn't look like there is going to be to many going, but it will still be a blast. I am sure we will post about that when it happens, and maybe some pictures (if they are not to incriminating).

--Jimmy

Yippee

Well Jimmy and I found out today that we are positively going to sign on the house on Monday. I am so excited because that means we will get the keys and we can start painting and cleaning. I cannot wait until Monday...Jimmy and I have been packing and we have boxes all over our living room so on Monday I can start taking stuff over to the house while Jimmy is at work and I can clean and much more. I never thought I would be excited about cleaning the house, but I am. All of our dreams are starting to come true and we could not be happier with our life. We have amazing families who support us in every aspect of our lives and we really appreciate them. Well I just thought I would post this before Jimmy had the chance to...LOL
~Rachel

Hands on the Wall??

Our dog Lily:

We have taught her all kinds of tricks. One of them being "hands on the wall," this is a really cute trick. Lily jumps up and puts her front paws on the wall appearing to be getting frisked. This is something that was really easy to teach her. Just hold a treat up against the wall and tell her hands on the wall. As soon as her front paws are up there give her the treat. Teaching Lily this trick took all of about 10 minutes.

Anyhow: The other day Rachel and I were playing with her and noticed she was really excited to have some time with her parents. She was acting all sorts of crazy. Lily decided to put a whole new spin to hands on the wall. She is now jumping up and putting all four paws on the wall. This is something that we DID NOT teach her. Below is a picture of the new trick and a short video.

More House!

WE HAVE A MAXIMUM OF 19 DAYS BEFORE WE CLOSE!!!

A few people have asked me some little things about the house that I could not remember. The main thing appears to be what uses gas and what uses electric. The simple answer is, if it can use gas it does(furnace, water heater, dryer, and stove)! Which I am unsure if I should be happy about this or disappointed. One positive: the house actually comes with all of these we don't have to purchase them.

We are just playing the waiting game now. We don't technically own the house, but we do. Meaning the house is held for us, and we are just waiting for all the paper work to be done. I personally can't wait. I am ready to start painting, cleaning up, cleaning the yard, etc. etc. After we get moved in and settled, I already have some projects lined up! One of the first is: The goldfish pond.


This was/is currently on the property, but clearly needs some work. I don't even think there was a hole dug, but some rocks thrown down. There is already power ran out to it for a waterfall. Just needs some work.

Well that is all for now. If you have more questions about the house leave us a comment on here and we will try to answer it ASAP.

--Jimmy

First Holiday

Well this Easter will be the first holiday without my grandpa. With all the good stuff going on in my life you would think I would be the happiest person in the world, but I'm not. I miss him so much and it is hard to think that we will not see him again. As I was counting today the number of people who would be at our Easter get together, I thought of him. I was going to count him in the number, but I had to come back to reality and realize he is gone. It is so hard. I never thought that his death would get to me like this, but it has and now I really do not know what to do. I listen to his song everyday thinking that it will make it all easier on myself, but it really doen't. I just don't know what to do because I think all the time about him, and how he will never get to hold my kids, see my kids, or anything. My kids will never know how amazing he was and get to meet him. I am so tired of crying, but I don't know how to get over this. I don't know how to let go of this pain in my heart. I wish that I could have seen him after he was gone so it would hit me. One day I hope to be able to get past this. I would not wish this kind of pain on anyone I know....
~Rachel

Our Dog should be locked up!

I know I just posted about the house, but I had forgot to post this at the end of last week. One day we found out Lily doesn't really care for the alarm clock, or maybe she really likes it. If we get up before it goes off and are some where else in the apartment when it starts she will go running into the bedroom. We bought an alarm clock that gets loader the longer it goes off, which Lily tries to out do!

This is Lily the other morning!

--Jimmy

The House!

WE HAVE A MAXIMUM OF 26 DAYS BEFORE WE CLOSE!!!

We finally got all the paper work signed and mailed back to Terry. Everything is moving along, but much to slowly for me. Buying a house is quite exciting, but very confusing. There is all kinds of legal Mumbo Jumbo, that has be read(at least looked at) and signed. Rachel has become obsessed with the house. By this I mean she was looking online and noticed it was no longer in the "active" or "keep showing" state and HAD to take a little road trip to the house to see if they had taken down the for sale sign. That was all we did! HA I guess I did get some other pictures of the back yard, but we drove 30 minutes to look at a sign! I don't mind for two reasons (1)I get to spend time with my beautiful wife, and (2) I am excited also. Anyhow things are moving along, and we will keep you posted about things that are happening!


This is a picture of the far corner of our backyard looking towards the house. You can see the nice dog pen, the back of the huge garage, and also the back of the house.


This is picture standing at the front door looking out into our front yard, which is also quite large. I guess I should start looking for a lawn mower!

--Jimmy

Well Well

Well things in our life are changing very quickly. We just found out that we are going to have an addition to our family (well not us but). My brother and his soon to be wife are expecting a child together in November. I am going to be an aunt twice, it is so amazing. Right now Jimmy and I have the best nephew that anyone could ask for. He is 3 years old and is adorable. He is so smart and the cutest thing ever. He is growing up so fast. I cannot believe it. Now he is going to be a big brother and it is incredible. Jimmy and I have not decided on when we are going to have kids, but my brother has a good size jump on us. Oh well we can spoil our nephew and the new baby until we decide to expand our little family.
My best friend just had her baby. He is so cute and he looks like her. I am so happy for her and her husband. They are the best people that we know and they deserve this child after all that they have been through. Well that is enough talking for now. Stay tuned for more.
~Rachel

Lilys Tricks

Our apartment becomes more and more bare as we slowly pack away things for the move. I will be quite happy to finally have our own place. Although I am not looking forward to the actual physical move! Anyhow: I had promised to show/tell you more about our small family, so I have uploaded a short video of our dog Lily doing the tricks we have taught her.



--Jimmy

Our "New" House

As Rachel mentioned we have bought a house! Hopefully we close on it soon, because I am ready to start cleaning up and moving in!! I often find it amazing how fast life changes. Anyhow here is a picture of the house and the garage.

"The house"

"The Huge Garage"

Any of our friends and family are welcome to stop by anytime! BTW: after we move in we are planning on having a cook out for my 22nd birthday!

--Jimmy

Moving

Jimmy and I are buying our first house!!!! I am so very excited. We are moving into a cute 2 bedroom home in a small town, but big enough for what we need. We actually just started looking for houses online and we happened to come across this amazing little house. I am so ready to have our own home and we can make our own rules. We will have more privacy and such. Just very excited about this...

Update

Well this is Rachel. I wanted to add a post on here since Jimmy has not added one since January. Our life is going very well. Jimmy and I have been together since 2000 and it has been the best time. We have had our ups and downs like all people do, but we have made it. We have started our family like Jimmy has mentioned. We have a dog, ferret, and fish. Today our guppy had baby guppies. It was really cool. We have the best of friends that anyone could ask for. Our neighbors are really cool. We hang out with them all of the time. Our dog loves their dog so much. They play all of the time. Well that is about it for now.

The Blogger Start!!

I never thought I would come to the point of writing on Blogger. I recently married, Rachel Stewart,
and we started our life together. We both started new jobs and moved, so I thought that maybe we could use Blogger as a way to keep in touch (1) with each other and (2) with other family. Not sure
how often we will be able to update this, or what will come of it. This could just be a phase that is gone
next week, who knows.

Anyway...

Rachel and I are both 21 and living in Illinois. We have a small little family including our ferret
(Samson) and our bundle of joy Lily, a mini- American Eskimo. We will soon be posting pictures of
our family. So check back in for the update.

--Jimmy